Chapter 10 I can protect you my pet

“Oh my God! Look at them, they're sitting so close to each other.”

“I think she's no longer a virgin.What if she's pregnant with a vampire’s child?” Rose mocked.

“Hahaha,I'm sure wherever Mrs. Caviar is, she would be very disappointed,” said the third maid, and they all chuckled. They had come to clean up the sitting room and to water some flowers. Seeing the duke with the youngest maid was undeniably shocking. The senior maids usually warned Evan to stay away from any vampire, including their masters. Evan was still young, and there were many young vampires in the Donovan household. She was told not to be a friend to any of them, let alone be a friend of a duke.

Murmurs can spread so fast. They can even reach the ears of the lord of the land, Lord Raphael. Ezekiel grew up with him, not because Zeke loved it, but because he was dangerous to everyone around him, including his parents. He didn't have red eyes, and he could turn into a reaper vampire at any point. To protect themselves, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan handed him to a councilman, who was the present Lord Raphael. When he was young (one to six years old), he consumed a lot of blood. He didn't even eat normal food, only drinking blood with an exceedingly high urge. There came a season when he drank from a maid, making sure he siphoned every drop from her.

The maid died on the spot. Mr. and Mrs. Donovan were flabbergasted when they learned about this tragedy. A four-year-old child drank from a grown adult and killed her on the spot. They became disappointed and scared. They handed him to Mrs. Ella, a pureblooded vampire who disciplined untamed vampires, and she normally did it in the dungeon. She would keep Ezekiel hungry, making him roar like a wild animal. At night his eyes would become bloodstained red, and his long fangs would be longer than usual. He would have no blood to drink for two days, and that wasn't good for a six-year-old child.

When he was twelve, his urge for drinking from humans died down, never coming back. When he was eighteen, he didn't choose a slave to drink from. And when he lost his little sister, all hell broke loose. He was devastated to the point that even his body was ignorant. One of the greatest weaknesses he tries to fight is that he is short-tempered, getting angry easily. His mother couldn't stand it. When he lived with the present Lord Raphael, he was disciplined and well-handled. Lord Raphael was a politician ever since he was eighteen, and the previous duke (Zeke’s father) found the man well-skilled and suitable to handle Ezekiel.

When Ezekiel started living in Raphael's mansion, the man took advantage of his short-tempered nature. He taught him how to kill, making Ezekiel a bloody killer, and Ezekiel loved being the bad guy. He never hesitated to kill, even if you were his family, as long as you were in the wrong.

Lord Raphael loved Ezekiel for who he was and honestly wanted the boy to work with him.When Ezekiel's father died, Raphael became the lord and wanted Ezekiel to work alongside him.

Just like him,he made sure Zeke went into politics as soon as he was eighteen as well.

Merciless and ruthless, he didn't have any interest in women or drinking human blood. The only interest he had was in killing.

Finally,he found something that was overwhelming enough for him to take a test: Evan’s blood. It was so tasty.

“Why are you scared? And how do you know you're not safe?” asked Duke Ezekiel. When the girl said she wasn't safe here anymore, he was slightly taken aback. He knew this mansion was very safe, and no black witch would dare come here without him noticing. Over the years of growing up with Lord Raphael, he had killed a lot of witches, bunches of them, so that he was now famous among black witches. They feared him dearly. None of them would dare come to his territory lest they disguise themselves as humans, but it wouldn't take him long to notice them.

“I don't like it here,” confessed Evan. We are safe here, but with that housekeeper around, I am sure I will die sooner or later. That housekeeper is a nightmare in my life. Now the duke pretends to be my savior? thought Evan in her mind. Glancing up, she saw a bunch of maids whispering to themselves. Her mind immediately jumped as she gasped harshly.

“What's wrong?”Zeke asked, noticing the girl’s sudden action. He swept his eyes to where she was looking, seeing a group of maids.

He set his lips in a thin line,and his expression darkened. That alone was enough to create a hot, intimidating aura in the sitting room. As soon as those maids’ eyes landed on Ezekiel, and before Evan could blink, they were all gone in a flash. She was grateful that she wasn't seeing them, but that wouldn't stop the rumors that would soon be heard everywhere. Nothing can stop rumours from spreading, not even Ezekiel.

“I need to water the garden. I have to go.”

“Let them find someone else to do it.You and I will be hanging out.”

“Sorry,milord, but I can't,” Evan said, keeping her head down. She didn't want to stir any further trouble, and she was avoiding getting into the spotlight.

“I wasn't asking you,”Zeke's voice came out demanding, and Evan shivered a little.

Good,he said to himself.

“Milord?”

“Hmm?”

“It is raining outside.How can we go out under the rain?” she asked, curious what he was up to. She was fully convinced that this duke wouldn't leave her be.

“We are taking the carriage. Go tell the housekeeper to get you a dress,” he said. Glancing at the girl, he saw her hesitation.

“Now!”he commanded. Because he used that tone, Evan immediately stood up, running out of the sitting room towards the servants’ basement.

She ran into the kitchen,looking for the housekeeper's room. Spotting the door, she knocked on it hastily.

The door instantly flew open.

“What's wrong?”the housekeeper asked.

“The duke said you should find me a dress,”the words came out of her mouth as she tried to catch her breath.

“A dress?Where are you both going?”

“I think that doesn't concern you,sir,” Evan shot at him. She was so tired of his rude attitude towards her.

Thinking that he was going to react,Evan was ready to fight back. But to her greatest surprise,

“Go to room 16. Tell her to give you a blue dress,” the housekeeper instructed before shutting the door.

Evan sighed and walked away,going down into the basement, looking for room 16.

When she finally spotted it,she didn't bother knocking on the door. Pushing it open, she went in. The room was as small as her own. All the maids’ rooms were painted a colorless brown.

The room was well-kept and neat.

“Olivia,I was told to get a dress by the housekeeper.”

Olivia was a maid who usually supplied dresses to invited guests of the mansion when theirs were worn-out.

“Hmm,what's the special occasion? You and the housekeeper have a date?” said Olivia dramatically. Her attention was still absorbed by a book she was reading. She was laying on the bed with her legs up. Every maid knew her as the blonde-haired maid due to the color of her hair.

“No…” Eva tried to defend herself but was cut off by Olivia.

“I knew it.Lately, I see you guys tomorrow. The stares in your eyes, how you looked at you. He is so cute,” Olivia left her bed and started dancing majestically. She was imagining her own world, breathing invisible roses.

“There's no way he looked at me!” Evan pouted in disappointment.

“You won't see it coming,dear. He stares at you as if you're a beautiful artwork. He loves you!” declared Olivia as she kept dancing dramatically.

Evan’s brows frowned.

“The duke is waiting.”As soon as Evan said those words, Olivia stopped dancing. She glanced back at Evan.

“D-duke?”Olivia was taken aback. “Come on, come on, I'll show you a dress. Let's go to the dressing room.” Minutes later, Evan was fully dressed in a green flare dress, wearing a green turban hat. Now they were both inside the carriage under the rain. The rain wasn't heavy, just a simple melody playing in their ears. It was already getting dark, and Evan wondered where they were headed at this time.

Evan began to tremble from within; it was because the road was lonely and no building was nearby. It was filled with nothing but trees, and the carriage had been riding for one hour now. She was exhausted and scared. While the duke and the coachman remained unshaking.

The surrounding felt so weird,and something inside her stirred, uncertain.

And just as she was imagining,a loud sound from someone erupted inside the forest. It was so loud and couldn't be unnoticed.

Evan subconsciously leaped into Zeke's arms,frightened by what she just heard.

“I can't!It isn't safe,” she chanted, closing her beautiful hazel eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Ezekiel slowly patted her head.

“I can protect you,my pet.”